The Lion King 4: A New Beginning Chapter 1
by LionStory
Summary: chapter one of my story! thank you for my first review. now i can publish. in this chapter, we get to see some more of the new Princess Sumini's life.


After greeting her new little brothers, Sumini went outside to mull things over. To her suprise, she found Vitani there, gazing at the sunrise. The tan lioness's head swung around at the sound of Sumini's soft pawsteps. "Oh hey, Princess. Great sunrise, huh?" she greeted her.

"Yeah," answered Sumini halfheartedly. "Vitani?" she asked. "Yes?" "Did you ever have any siblings?" inquired the princess. The other lioness sighed. "Yes, I did. A brother. But he's gone now." Vitani's eyes got misty, as if she was remembering something tragic. "Would you be ok telling me about him?" asked Sumini. "He was was too young to fight, and he was running a fever, so Zira said he would be useless in the battle," began Vitani.

"His name was Roka, and he had been born just a few months before you would be, Sumini. The weird thing about him, though? He was a white creamy colour all over, except for his eyes, which were green. After the battle, and Zira's death, Kovu, Kiara and I made a trip back to the Outlands to get the cubs we had left there. It was a short trip, but on the way back, Roka collapsed, and stopped breathing.

Kovu was sure he was dead, but I wanted to stay and see if he was really gone. Kovu said we had to get back because he heard a sandstorm in the distance, and we could get lost in it if we stayed.

It broke my heart to leave Roka there, just lying in the sand. He looked so little and helpless, prey instead of predator. But I left him, and I never knew what happened to him," finished Vitani. Sumini had sat there through the whole story, speechless. "Vitani, I'm really sorry about your brother," she offered.

"Don't say that, it wasn't your fault," said the dark lioness curtly. "I'm going to get some rest. By the way, your little brothers are cute," added Vitani before walking into the sleeping den.

Cute? thought Sumini. Well, sort of. They sort of looked like hairballs. A few hours later, Kovu came out of the main den to join Sumini outside "Hey Dad. How's Mom?" asked Sumini. "Fast asleep, " replied Kovu. The dawn sunrays glanced off his mane, making it gleam with ebony glints.

Sumini wanted to ask her father if he knew anything about Roka, but the words wouldn't come. Instead she blurted out," Where did you get your scar?" Kovu looked away. When he spoke, his voice was hard.

"My mother, Zira, gave it to me after my adopted brother Nuka died. She accused me of killing him, then slashed my face." The young lioness gasped. She couldn't imagine Kiara raking her claws across her eyes. "I didn't know," she said quietly.

"Well, it's not usually a question lions ask," said Kovu. Sumini was silent for a few minutes. She thought about asking Kovu about Roka. She gathered all her courage, then whispered," Dad, do you know what happened to Vitani's brother Roka?"

Kovu exhaled, then said," Sumini, I just don't know. He had a sickness called desert fever. Some dust spores had gotten into his lungs, and breathing was getting hard for him. I told Kiara about him, and she said Rafiki could cure the fever."

"Nala had it a few weeks back, and she's fine," remembered Sumini. When her grandmother had been sick, Rafiki made a concoction of leaves and berries to sooth her raging temperature.

"Dad, what if Roka didn't die? What if he lived? Can't lions live in the desert?" asked the princess. "I guess that's possible," answered her dad. Sumini began to think. If you could live in the desert, maybe as a Pride, there wasn't a reason that Roka couldn't live there alone.

That was if he had survived. "Thanks for the info, Dad. I'm going to sleep." With that, the princess loped toward the dens, the sun glinting off her four brown stripes.

A few years later...

Princess Sumini was lost. The strange world around her changed constantly, from marsh to savannah, to desert. As she was running, the faces of her friends and family appeared. Kovu, Kiara, her brothers Tendai and Ingwenya, Vitani.

They all looked worried.

As she neared what she thought was the end of her journey, a dersert came into sight, with red sand and a sky like water's reflection.

On the top of a high dune was a lion. Her looked her age, adolescent, but he was white. He had deep red eyes, not a burning red, like fire, but a smoldering red, like embers.

He was looking for something and sniffing the air. No, not something. _Someone._

Sumini was sure he was looking for her, but she didn't know why. Then a paw poked her in the side. "Sumini!" shouted her father's voice.

The princesse's eyes flashed open. "Yes Dad?" she asked, breathing heavily. "Sumini, you were kicking in your sleep. _Again." _Kovu's eyes searched hers for answers, but she looked away. "Yeah, Sis," chimed in the voice of a young male. A cub popped up. He looked exactly like young Kovu. Another cub popped up, looking like young Simba.

"Sorry, guys. I just had that dream again," apologized Sumini.

"The one with the white lion?" asked Ingwenya.

"Yeah," mused Sumini. _Roka,_ she thought. Ever since the night of her brother's birth, she had wondered about the young white lion, and if he had survived.

"You should quit _moooooning _over that dude," sneered Tendai. "Oh shut up," said Sumini, swiping her paw over her brother's head. Tendai was Kovu's young look-alike, and he had attitude. She had no doubt that he would make a terrible leader. Ingwenya, on the other hand, looked like Simba, and was thoughful and copassionate. "Sumini, want to come on morning patrol with me?" asked Kovu."Yeah, I'll come," answered Sumini. "Good. Kiara's paw got a thorn in it the other day, and Rafiki says it's infected, so she can't come." "Poor Mom. I hope it's not paining her," worried Sumini. "Rafiki says it's not serious," Kovu assured her.

"Let's go," he added. Father and daughter strolled out of the cave. Sumini blinked in the bright sunlight. She could see the other lionesses sunning and talking by the waterhole. She and Kovu walked to the edge of the Pridelands, and began to walk around the border. "Sumini, I wanted to talk to you about that dream," began Kovu. "How often does it come?"

Sumini tried to recall when the dream came to her. "About every two nights," she answered. "Ok," said Kovu. "Do you know who the white lion in the dream is?" he asked. Sumini was reluctant to tell him that she thought it was Roka, Vitani's younger brother who had gone missing five years ago, the year he had been born.

"Umm, uhh, Dad, please don't laugh, but I think it's Roka," she said quietly.

To her suprise, Kovu didn't tease her at all. He only looked thoughtful and a little disturbed. Sumini was also a little disturbed. Why did the dream keep coming back to her? Roka was dead. Right? So why was she dreaming about a dead lion?


End file.
